2018 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship preview and entry list

The 2018 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship will kick-off this weekend at Adelaide Street Circuit. Twenty-six drivers are entering the season.

The championship season, which will end with Newcastle 500 event on November 24-25, features 16 events with 31 races, expanding from fourteen to sixteen venues.

The Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, which hosted the non-championship round since 1996, is now included in the championship with the same 4-race format. The completely new venue on the VASC calendar is the Bend Motorsport Park in Tailem Bend, South Australia. The event would be known as the Bend SuperSprint.

2018 V8 Supercars Championship calendar

Round

Event

Race track

Location

Date

1

Adelaide 500

Adelaide Street Circuit

Adelaide, South Australia

March 3-4

2

Melbourne 400

Melbourne GP Circuit

Melbourne, Victoria

March 24-25

3

Tasmania SuperSprint

Symmons Plains Raceway

Launceston, Tasmania

April 7-8

4

Phillip Island 500

Phillip Island GP Circuit

Phillip Island, Victoria

April 21-22

5

Perth SuperSprint

Barbagallo Raceway

Perth, Western Australia

May 5-6

6

Winton SuperSprint

Winton Motor Raceway

Benalla, Victoria

May 19-20

7

Darwin Triple Crown

Hidden Valley Raceway

Darwin, Northern Territory

June 16-17

8

Townsville 400

Townsville Street Circuit

Townsville, Queensland

July 7-8

9

Ipswich SuperSprint

Quensland Raceway

Ipswich, Queensland

July 21-22

10

Sydney SuperNight 300

Sydney Motorsport Park

Eastern Creek, New South Wales

August 3-4

11

The Bend SuperSprint

The Bend Motorsport Park

Tailem Bend, South Australia

August 25-26

12

Sandown 500

Sandown Raceway

Melbourne, Victoria

September 15-16

13

Bathurst 1000

Mount Panorama Circuit

Bathurst, New South Wales

October 6-7

14

Gold Coast 600

Surfers Paradise Street Circuit

Surfers Paradise, Queensland

October 20-21

15

Auckland SuperSprint

Pukekohe Park Raceway

Pukekohe, New Zealand

November 3-4

16

Newcastle 500

Newcastle Street Circuit

Newcastle, New South Wales

November 24-25

The seven-time champion Jamie Whincup will drive the #1 Holden in 2018

Super2 champion will lead five rookies

Two more teams will run Ford Falcons. Matt Stone Racing will switch from Super2 Series to Supercars Championship, together with 2017 Super2 champion Todd Hazelwood who will fight for Rookie of the Year honors in 2018.